HBO Moved Development In-House to Speed Apple TV Project

Wild-Bill said:

I think the only institution with a lower satisfaction rating than the cable companies is the US Congress.

I cannot wait until the cable / satellite companie's grip on content is shattered, and consumers can pick and choose the channels they want to have, instead of having a 200 channel package for the 8-10 channels they actually care about.

And I hope all of the executives of those monopolistic practices lose all their bennies and golden parachutes.

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While i agree with you on those points, i also think it has approached with some caution as the responder above states, be careful what you wish for because you may get it. Less choice at a higher price, albeit ala carte may be the outcome.

Sure a wide open market will bring other players in to compete with the big content providers like HBO etc, imagine YouTube channels becoming popular its happening now, but creating good content is not cheap.

...and i kind of like having those 200 channels, and occasionally stumbling upon some whacky cooking show as a diversion for an hour. I'd like to see some of those options remain.

rocknblogger said:

Everybody wants to cut the cord and wants to be able to subscribe to channels on a per channel basis or even per show. I've said it before and I'll say it again. If that does happen I can see it being more expensive than what we have now. I can easily see each channel charging $20-$30 per month. How many channels do you think you may want? 10 to 20 maybe? You can easily get to $200-$300 per month and that doesn't include Internet which you would have to pay separately for. In my case Verizon would charge me $85 per month for Internet alone (50/25).

Be careful what you wish for.

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What do you mean? Your post is confusing as you support your point by making up your facts. Who said each channel will be $20-30 per month and who said it each channel is worth the same and cost the same amount? Of course everyone wants to to cut the cord because cable companies have been hosing customers which high prices. The pricing model has be be changes and just like what Apple did with Itunes and $1/song. I can see them doing somethign just as good. In the end it will benefit the consumers. "Be careful what you wish for?" You mean providers need to be careful as consumers now have more voice on what is tolerated or not. Just like DirectTV having the change to the customer demand from the topic of this post. The outcry will be loud and clear if the companies don't becareful.

So Awesome!@

This is so awesome! Now I can watch HBO Go in my bedroom The AppleTV will be my perfect box if they get Vudu on it, then my entire 350 strong Digital Movie Library will be on One device.

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Akuratyde said:

Can someone please explain to me how HBO would lose revenue by introducing a subscription service? Wouldn't they continue to generate revenue from cable operators as well as subscribers?

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Because their deal structure is long term and in Bulk. They get paid a certain percentage of the subscription fees, plus Cable Providers pay them a set, guaranteed amount every contract period. That's how they can afford the high quality shows because HBO is one of those services that Cable Companies know their customers want.

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WhoDaKat said:

Um, first who cares. Great HBO is available on the Apple TV.... so? Since you already have cable, you have access to all of HBOs catalog via the cable you already pay for. Gee shall I watch GOT on the HBO GO channel on my cable box, or shall I watch it on HBO GO the AppleTV channel. Um, again, who cares?

And I'm so glad they took the entire project in house and did it themselves, it looks... just like every other AppleTV app. Way to go HBO!

Sorry HBO, we will gladly pay for the content we want, but if you force us to spend a $100 a month on cable to get your shows.... don't be surprised when we find a better way.

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Cable OnDemand pretty much sucks. They rarely have full seasons of current programs, that alone older seasons and then they always Time Out. HBO Go gives you access to a very large selection of stuff that isn't available on HBO OnDemand. Not to mention entire series runs of things like The Sopranos, The Wire, etc.

TXCherokee said:

And that, unfortunately, is the day we start getting data caps or charged per GB on our in-home internet service.

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Yes, you are correct. What's even more sad is they may not wait till then to implement these things. I've already seen on the TWC website how they are monitoring monthly GB usage on my account. It's only a matter of time before they start charging per GB.

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robanga said:

While i agree with you on those points, i also think it has approached with some caution as the responder above states, be careful what you wish for because you may get it. Less choice at a higher price, albeit ala carte may be the outcome.

Sure a wide open market will bring other players in to compete with the big content providers like HBO etc, imagine YouTube channels becoming popular its happening now, but creating good content is not cheap.

...and i kind of like having those 200 channels, and occasionally stumbling upon some whacky cooking show as a diversion for an hour. I'd like to see some of those options remain.

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Well I guess you don't mind the wall to wall ads in you're whacky cooking show either then? I do. The obnoxious number of ads in any cable show is mind numbing. At least for me it is. I'll gladly pay more money for zero ads.

MacDav said:

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Well I guess you don't mind the wall to wall ads in you're whacky cooking show either then? I do. The obnoxious number of ads in any cable show is mind numbing. At least for me it is. I'll gladly pay more money for zero ads.

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That is a valid point too but what makes you think the drive for more revenue won't provide the same amount of ads on the ala carte model. Web advertising and pre-rolls can be pretty obnoxious as well.

I remember back to the original intro of Cable TV in about 1980 or thereabouts, the promise of Cable was " Lots of Channels and little or no advertising" They actually told governments that the subscriptions would be enough. They told them what they wanted to hear to get exclusive licenses more like

robanga said:

That is a valid point too but what makes you think the drive for more revenue won't provide the same amount of ads on the ala carte model. Web advertising and pre-rolls can be pretty obnoxious as well.

I remember back to the original intro of Cable TV in about 1980 or thereabouts, the promise of Cable was " Lots of Channels and little or no advertising" They actually told governments that the subscriptions would be enough. They told them what they wanted to hear to get exclusive licenses more like

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Well...You would think if you buy a show ala carte it will be like buying or renting a movie. NO ADS... However, there are no guarantees. They have ads at the theaters now. At least they're not during the movie. They do have "Product placement" in films. This can be distracting for me also, but not quite as bad.

Seems kind of pointless to me. I got an Apple TV so that I could avoid paying cable charges for a bunch of crap that isn't worth watching. HBO GO would be great if I could get a membership straight from HBO but since I need to pay for cable and HBO before I can use this, what's the point? If I already have cable, why would I bother routing HBO through my Apple TV when I can watch it through cable???

sbrage2000 said:

Seems kind of pointless to me. I got an Apple TV so that I could avoid paying cable charges for a bunch of crap that isn't worth watching. HBO GO would be great if I could get a membership straight from HBO but since I need to pay for cable and HBO before I can use this, what's the point? If I already have cable, why would I bother routing HBO through my Apple TV when I can watch it through cable???

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HBO GO isn't for you. It is a free perk for people who already subscribe to HBO. HBO Go has HBO's entire TV Catalog and hundreds of HBO movies, all the original films, docs, specials, and sporting events. Something HBO OnDemand doesn't come close to having. If you are a fan of HBO, HBO GO is well worth setting up. I would probably even pay $5 or $10 extra for it - luckily, I don't have to - yet. I wish all the pay services did this - Showtime, Starz, etc and make their entire catalogs available via something like this.

malexandria said:

I would probably even pay $5 or $10 extra for it - luckily, I don't have to - yet. I wish all the pay services did this - Showtime, Starz, etc and make their entire catalogs available via something like this.

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Does it add anything beyond the ability to stream HBO programming to your devices? I ask out of sincere curiosity. I get that streaming HBO to your mobile devices could be handy, I just don't see the value of streaming it to a device hooked up to my TV when my cable is already hooked up to my TV.

sbrage2000 said:

Does it add anything beyond the ability to stream HBO programming to your devices? I ask out of sincere curiosity. I get that streaming HBO to your mobile devices could be handy, I just don't see the value of streaming it to a device hooked up to my TV when my cable is already hooked up to my TV.

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Yes, HBO GO allows you to view movies and shows that are currently not available in the current month's cycle. It has for example all of the previous shows in full like The Sopranos, Oz, Deadwood and others. It's a pretty valuable odd on if you already subscribe to HBO.

well, that's a great news, but i want them to add dexter.

beaniemyman said:

well, that's a great news, but i want them to add dexter.

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It might be rather difficult for HBO to deliver Showtime content.

Charter Communications learn something I am still paying for HBO on cable and that is the only way to get HBO Go it does not mean when watching it through Apple TV that I am not subscribed to HBO through Charter, I am still paying a lot of money for Cable TV and Internet with pretty much every channel and in HD it cost me $200, please Charter GTFO my city for once no one likes your backwards company who still dwells on Analog cable.

mdelvecchio said:

hbo go / apple tv is portable. your cable box is not.

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LOL Your AppleTV which is attached to your TV, is not portable. Your iPad and iPhone are though.

WhoDaKat said:

LOL Your AppleTV which is attached to your TV, is not portable. Your iPad and iPhone are though.

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It can be portable, it is not that big as a cable box, all you need is a HDMI cable, Power cord and a place that caries WIFI.

i'm hoping the apple tv is updated this fall